VOLO by HUSH Makes Wishing a Global, Digital Experience

The quasi-physicality of augmented reality makes it an interesting medium for connecting people across space, and VOLO by HUSH is a new AR platform that does just that. The partially physical, partially digital project connects users around the world through the use of virtual wishing wells, creating a system whereby global users can share their creativity and positivity.

VOLO, which means "I wish" in Latin, revolves around physical wishing wells. The centerpiece of the project is a large-scale well — which is made up of curved blocks arranged in a circle — located at HUSH's gallery space in the Brooklyn Navy Yards. By pointing their cameras at that well through the VOLO app, people can create AR experiences in which falling stars, hazy mist, and other users' "wishes" draw themselves out in real time.

Users create these visual wishes by connecting to the AR well and tracing patterns with their devices. Beyond the spiraling shapes of the wishes themselves, the patterns are tagged with users' locations to show the connection across distance. HUSH has also created small-scale, tabletop versions of the ringed well for use at home.